Today a number of techniques exist for inline mixing of a material and a liquid. Examples of materials include particles in e.g. powder form or granulate form, as well as liquids with significantly higher viscosity than the liquid to mix with. Inline mixing refers to continuously introducing the material in a stream of the liquid that the material shall be mixed with. The stream of liquid is typically generated by a pump and the material that is introduced in the stream must be adequately mixed with the liquid. The mixing may include that the material is dissolved in the liquid, either fully or in part. In either case, the material that is introduced into the stream is after its introduction transported as a part of the liquid.
The mixing is often affected by the rate of flow of the stream of liquid, which means that the design of both mixing equipment and pumping equipment must be considered in order to obtain adequate mixing.
Apparatuses with equipment for both mixing and pumping a liquid and material are disclosed in a number of patent documents, for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,660,990, 4,850,704, 5,322,357 and US2004/0223407.
The disclosed apparatuses successfully accomplish mixing and pumping of liquid and material. However, they are quite bulky and they are not very versatile in respect of employment within in a wide range of processes where mixing is required.